I'll Be Waiting (I'll Be There)
by lightpikachu08
Summary: Two months has passed since the game that decided Shibuyas fate. As punishment for their actions, Joshua and Sanae Hanekoma had been sent down to the RG as living breathing human beings for three weeks. Joshua, who doesn't seem to be taking his punishment seriously, patiently waits until the day he can finally return back to the UG. that is, until he met that special someone.
1. Prologue: I Am Joshua

**( first the prologue…. The rather long prologue ._. **

**Also, I'll change the cover when I finally decide to draw Joshua. My first TWEWY fic, so I'll try hard not to disappoint ;w; my writing skills have been a little rusty after a couple months.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the twewy characters; they belong to their rightful owners)**

**Prologue**

Smalls rays of the sun light pierced through, giving the once dark woods a shimmering glow. The slight breeze rocked the green leaves and grass gently, making them sway back and fourth as if they were dancing. All was quiet, and the only thing that can be heard, is the footsteps of a young six year old child, running. His ashen hair also shimmered as a ray of light touched it. His violet eyes, wide and a bit watery, shed small tears that got carried away by the wind that blew by his face as he ran; _he's gone… he's gone! That person with… with those black weird looking wings killed her! _He thought trying to climb the wooden fence. Just beyond the fence was a large mansion that him and his family lived in. his father is one of the wealthiest in all of France, and his mother is just your ordinary person trying to make their way in the world. They were just like any ordinary family, the caring father, the loving wife, and their child, who isn't so ordinary at all.

Meanwhile, at the neighbors, a little girl, who was also six years old, was playing catch with her father. The pink ball, just the right size for her, flew up in the air and, being the expert that she is, caught it without almost breaking a sweat, "I got it! I got it!" she shouted smiling happily. Her father laughed, "that' a girl! Okay now toss it back,"

"Get ready!" and thus, she tossed it back in the air.

On the other side, the young boy successfully got over the fence, and successfully landing on his rear. He sat there catching his breath and wiping the tears away from his face. Realizing that he's at the side of the mansion, he stood up and ran along the hedges that separated them from their neighbor. Strangely enough, he started hearing a nice vibe from around the area. The tune was strong but gentle and soft. The melody helped eased his fear and calm him down, so much that He slowed to a stop and stood there to listen while staring at the grass, _what is that song? I… I like it; _he smiled and closed his eyes.

"Here's a big one!" the girl readied herself as her father tossed it way up high. However, the toss was accidently too strong, and flew past her. She gasped and ran for it.

Getting ahead of it she jumped as high as she could. She was getting close, so close, miss. The young girl was unaware of the hedges, so as she jumped, she jumped right through it and slamming onto the boy on the other side of the hedge.

"Hey! Watch where you're going," shouted the boy.

Noticing that she was on top of another person, she lifted herself up to see him and apologize, "i-im so sorry, I was only trying to catch my ball but then-" she slowed to a stopped as she took a good look at the boy she was on. he blinked and stared right back at her. She had long dark blonde hair, bangs at eye brow length and holding the rest of the hair back was a red bandana. She had dark brown eyes and wore a frilly red and white dress. As if the sun was directly behind her, she had a magnificent golden glow, almost like the angels had sent her down from heaven.

The girl, on the other hand, was staring straight at the boy's eyes. She didn't know him at all, but for some reason, she thought there had to be something special about him. Those violet eyes were breathtaking to her, having seen nothing like it before.

"Wow," they both whispered in unison. The young boy snapped out of it, shaking his head, and the girl, remembering that she accidentally bumped into him, stuttered as she got off him, "I.. I really am sorry," she said as she dusted off the dirt on her dress. The boy got up and dusted his pale blue shorts, "um… no problem, apology accepted, and forgiven," he said looking at her with a smile.

She giggled and looked around, "my ball flew over the hedge and landed somewhere here… I think,"

"Um, I don't think so," the boy said pointing at the top of the hedge. Right on the edge was a pink ball, being held in place by the branch. The girl looked up at it sadly, "how am I suppose to get that?" she said.

Neither of the two had time to react as they heard a loud call from the other side. Frankly, it was her father and from the sound of it, he was panicking, "oh! That's my dad!" she said as she ran up to the hedge. There was a small opening underneath, big enough for the two to crawl under. She looked back and glanced at him one last time, "hey, we should play sometime,"

_w-what? _The boy thought, _you just met me, and now you want to play games with me sometime?_ He placed a hand at the back of his head and avoided contact, "s-sure, I guess…"

"Great! How's tomorrow sound?"

"U-uh, yeah, sure… I guess…"

The girl giggles, "Alright! I'll see you tomorrow, ummmm…"

The boy could tell that she was meaning to know his name. He debated on whether to give it to her or not. But thus, he gave in, seeing as the way she was thinking, made her look cute, "Yoshiya… Yoshiya Kiryu, b-but my Ma and Pa call me Joshua. So I guess you can call me that too," he said avoiding her gaze once more.

She giggled again and smiled sweetly at him, already she could tell that he was a bit shy, "I think… I'll call you Joshua. Okay then! See you tomorrow and don't forget." She then crawled under the hedge but was stopped by Joshua, "h-hey! YOU'RE not going to tell me your name?"

"oh! I almost forgot!"

Joshua crossed his arms, waiting.

She poked her head through and spoke, "Maiya. Maiya Solaina."

This time, it was his turn to giggle, "Okay, Maiya. See you tomorrow around noon, that's when I'll be ready,"

"Sounds good!" she said then crawled back under.

"… Yeah," he said quietly to himself, then grinned and ran inside, forgetting about the horrible event he witnessed in the woods.

Ssssssssssssssss

Soon enough, as days passed, the two had quickly become best of friends who deeply enjoyed one another's company. They laughed and played every day, from morning till sunset.

The day came when Joshua was about to tell his biggest secret to her. He often thought how she's going to react, _probably the same as Ma and Pa do… she'll probably think I'm crazy too. _They sat on the grass in the Kiryu families' backyard. Joshua fiddled with a strand of grass and Maiya sat next to him with an eager look on her face, "so what did you want to tell me?"

Joshua lowered his head a little, letting the strands of his hair cover his eyes, "Maiya… do… do you see things around you?"

Maiya tilted her head and then giggled, "of course I do silly! I see the trees, the sky, and the clouds-"

"Not those things," he interrupted and Maiya looked at him, confused. Joshua continued, "You see… I see things and it's like I'm the only one that can see them. They're nothing like the clouds, or the grass, or everything else. There are these animals that have tattooed feet, and these people with creepy looking wings, I think they call themselves 'reapers.' And they fight these people who call themselves 'players.'" He never once glanced at Maiya as he tried to explain the things he sees. He guessed that she thought he was awkward and weird. After a short silence, Joshua sighed and spoke quietly, "… you think I'm crazy… don't you," with that, Maiya placed her hand gently on his chin, and moved it so that she could look at him. He stared directly at her and her to him. She then smiled and said, "No, I don't think you're crazy." Joshua looked at her with a shocked expression, "y-y-you don't?"

"Nope, I can tell you're not lying, your eyes show it,"

"They do?"

"Hehe, of course. It's hard to explain, but… when I look at them, they have this certain spark to it. Plus, I've been around you long enough to tell if you're lying or not," she chuckled.

"Oh you can, can you?" Joshua said, giving her a mischievous smirk. They both laughed then brought themselves up, "you don't have to worry Joshua, I trust you, and I know what you're saying is true,"

"You believe in me that much?"

"Always! You and I are best friends, and since we are, no more keeping secrets from the both of us okay?"

Joshua just stared at her dumbfounded. Truly this girl was something; he had not met another person like her who doesn't think he's strange or a creep. What she said almost made him want to cry out with joy. At this moment, he is truly happy.

"Do they always fight each other?"

"Well… not all the time."

Sssssssssssssssssssss

A year passed since Maiya and Joshua met. The two have done absolutely everything together, in which Joshua is usually the one getting them into trouble, but in the end, they'd laughed it off and talk about it the next day.

Spring has arrived, and the neighborhood was blooming with life. Joshua and Maiya were at the playground, just a short walk away from their house. The two were passing Maiya's ball back and fourth, until Joshua wouldn't pass it back, "Joshua, what's the matter?" said Maiya looking worryingly at him.

"Maiya… I…" he paused and took a deep breath, "…I'm moving soon," Joshua said as he walked over to her slowly.

"Moving? Where too?"

"Some place called Shibuya, Tokyo. It's in Japan somewhere," he looked sadly at her, and then gazed down at the pink ball. Maiya looked equally as sad, "but that's millions of miles away"

"Actually, over six thousand miles,"

Maiya sighed and made her way to the bench. She sat down and stared at the ground, folding her hands together. Joshua sat next to her and placed the ball in between them, "… when are you leaving?" Maiya asked quietly, with a hint of sadness in her tone. Joshua replied, "My eighth birthday… which is soon."

The both of them were silent for a while, both looking at the ground, both sitting there, until their shadows grew bigger and bigger from the sun setting. A small sniffle can be heard from Maiya, and Joshua turned to look at her. He saw tiny droplets of tears falling down from her face, but she quickly wiped them away and jumped off the bench. Joshua grabbed the ball and stood by her side, "Maiya, come on. Let's walk home together."

Without looking at him, she nodded and they proceeded out of the playground and towards home.

On the way, he kept glancing at her, hoping she was looking back at him, or at least talk. He walked closer, then slowly placed his hand around her hand and griped it, "hey, it's not like I'm leaving right now, we still have a couple weeks."

She looked up at him, with tears still streaming down her face, "you have to promise not to cry, until I do leave," he said with a smile. After a while, this made Maiya smile too, "…I promise…" she sniffled and then walked in silence once more. She wiped more tears from her face, then spoke, "when you get there, you'd better stay out of trouble cause I won't be there to bust you out of it," she said. Joshua looked onward, still smiling, "I was reading about Shibuya yesterday, Maiya, if you… if you ever come to Shibuya… let's meet at Hachiko,"

"What's a Hachiko?"

Joshua told her the story of Hachiko that he read in the book, the story of a dog, which waited for his owners return. With that, he stopped in front of his house, still holding onto Maiya's hand. He wasn't smiling anymore and just looked straight on with a blank expression on his face. Joshua didn't have to say anything; Maiya knew that he was just as sad about leaving as she was, "so if you ever come to Shibuya…" Joshua said, "I'll be waiting, at Hachiko for you."

A small silence took over again. Joshua loosened his grip and their hands fell steadily into place beside them. They looked at his house that will soon be empty in a few weeks. But she smiled and said, "I'll be there. Yoshiya, wherever you're waiting, I'll be there."


	2. The Judgment

**( and now for the real story :3 )**

**CHAPTER 1**

Mr. Hanekoma shivered slightly as he stood in front of the big guys up in the higher plane. There was light and clouds everywhere, though some of the light was shielded from the large pedestals that stood around them. They were high, but not as high as the pedestal in the middle, reserved for the higher angel of the higher plane.

Angel figures stood behind them with their angelic wings sparkling brilliantly. Another shadow creeped along the cloudy ground where they stood. Hanekoma took a deep breath and composed himself, telling himself to calm down for his own sake. The higher angel now stood before them, her long dark hair swayed slightly as she glanced on both sides, making sure all of the council has attended. Her dark eyes moved down, now glancing at the two familiar faces at the bottom. From far away, she looked about the same size as the other angels flying in the higher plain. Actually, she's twice the size as everyone else. Her wings, if stretch out much farther, are about the same length as a standard football field.

Hanekoma cleared his throat and lifted his hand towards her, "sup' chief."

She glared down at him in an instant, causing Hanekoma to turn away, _must be in a bad mood, _he thought.

Relaxing a bit, she took a good look at the other person next to Hanekoma. Ashen blonde hair, dark violet eyes, a young man sitting on a chair with a sitting position that says 'this is so boring I think I'm going to die' Even his facial expression says it all. Instead of gazing upon the higher angel, he occupied himself by bouncing a tiny cloud with the tip of his finger, bounce up, _tap _down, bounce up, _tap_ down.

"Yoshiya Kiryu," she called out. Bounce up, _tap_ down, bounce up, _tap_ down, "Composer of Shibuya," she called again.

Bounce up, _tap_ down, bounce up, _tap_ down.

Hanekoma looked at him from the corner of his eye, "Josh," he hissed quietly. He looked up and saw that she was becoming irritated, being ignored by Yoshiya (aka Joshua) Ruler of Shibuya. The other angels don't seem pleased either. Before she could speak again, Joshua yawned then finally spoke to her, "… you called?"

She continued to show her look of annoyance towards him while the others glared. The man to the right, of her, named Tora, rolled his eyes and snorted, ruffling his feathers.

"Yoshiya," she said again, "that arrogant and stubborn personality of yours is not welcome here, so be careful about what you say and act to the council. Take this judgment seriously, Yoshiya. You placed your city in a serious state because of your little game with Megumi!" her voice gradually grew louder as she came to the end of her sentence. Joshua shrugged and looked away. The higher angel continued, "The people of Shibuya may have been suffering, and the game would have made them suffer even more until a certain proxy of yours-"

Joshua frowned a little and became slightly pissed off about the things she said just now, but having good self-control, we was able to tolerate it while he kept visioning himself shooting levitation beams at her wings, causing him to ignore half the things she was saying.

"but then…" she said, snapping him out, "you revived it in the end… what is your reason?" she gave him a confused look, one that Joshua had never thought he'd see on a being higher than his and Sanaes. The two stared at each other for a while, until Joshua sighed and looked away. Her shoulders relaxed, but it was evident that she was slightly disappointment on his part, they both knew why he spared Shibuya, and she only wanted to hear it from the composer himself. She closed her eyes and spoke again, this time softly, "still… rules are rules, and such actions like this can not go unpunished." Just like Sanae, the higher angel also took a liking to the young composer. Because of his sight when he was still alive, she had high hopes for him, and when he achieved that she had hoped that one day, he'd be as great as herself.

Tora eyed her carefully; with that ever so apparent frown he's always wearing every council meeting. He looked down at the two, grinned, and chuckled. Her eyes snapped open and soon found herself eyeing him warily, "welp!" the old man angel said, raising his arms, "that's that. You might have thought you'd done something… "Good" for the sake of whatever, but there's no denying it, what you've done was a complete mistake from the beginning. You two can't escape punishment for your pathetic acts, now can't ya?"

Joshua turned and gave him the death glare. He had just met the angel and already he disliked him.

"Complete erasure, that's what it is," he continued, leaning back and resting his hands on his chubby belly. The higher angle sighed, looking sadly upon them, "he is right. For something like this, it would have earned you both erasures,"

Joshua looked at Hanekoma from the corner of his eyes. Mr. H placed a hand at the back of his neck, his shades covering his eyes though Joshua could tell that he was feeling hurt by the decision that the angels had placed on them both. Or, so he thought that was the decision. Joshua glanced at her again, noticing something she said, "wait, you said 'would,' you have something else on your mind I presume,"

She nodded and suddenly all eyes were on her, "I've decided…" she paused for a moment to really think this through. Everyone was on the edge of their seats, mouths gaped open and waiting to hear her decision. Was there anything worse than erasure?

The higher angel took a deep breath, "I believe that sending you to the RG is a good enough punishment, for you Yoshiya Kiryu."

As expected, the whole room was filled with whispers of confusion and disagreement; yet, nobody made a move to question her about it. Even Hanekoma was a bit surprised. Tora almost fell out of his chair, but regained his balance and pulled forward, "are you serious?" he whispered to her, and she said loudly, "of course, there is never a day that I am not. However, Yoshiya, you are to remain in the RG for three weeks with limited powers. From that time on, you'll be living as any human would in the RealGround until your three weeks have expired,"

Joshua placed a finger on his chin, "… so my punishment, is a time-out from the UG… sounds good to me," he said with his signature smirk, _no matter how childish that is, _he placed his hands in his pockets, "and what about my dear producer?"

The higher angel took a good look at Sanae, "he will remain in the RG with you too. Except with his full abilities,"

Sanae was pleasantly surprised, no whispers of disagreements on his part. She continued, "You did what you had to, to protect something you love, even when you knew the risks. You are devoted, and that's something the council respects. However, because of your deed, you are still to remain a fallen angel."

Hanekoma withdrew back to his shades, "I see," he said quietly.

She raised her hand and suddenly a blank pin appeared, slowly guiding its way towards the two, "my only wish is that you'd protect that pin during your time in the RG and are to return it to me after," the pin shifted and made its way to Joshua, slowly twirling before him. He took the pin and held it up, examining it before placing it in his pocket.

All of the angels spread their wings, signaling that they were about to take off, "the judgment has ended; I only wish you two a good luck." Hanekoma and Joshua bowed, then turned and headed out of the council room and furthermore, knowing the true intention of protecting that pin.

Noticing that Hanekoma was still hiding behind his shades, Joshua couldn't help but feel guilty, knowing that all of this was his fault. He was good at not showing it, and he tried to get it off his mind and focus on his own punishment; which he found a little strange. His violet eyes stared at the ground as the two of them walked out.

Most of the angels left and some remained, watching them leave. As soon as they were out of sight, Tora spoke, "I don't understand your reasoning. It would make perfect sense to just erase them. One is too young and one is a fallen, and in any case they're worthless, and if word gets out which probably already has, who knows how this will affect other zones,"

"Tora," she growled at him, "are you questioning my-"

"No no no! It's not like that…" a sweat drop slowly slithered down the side of his face. The higher angel flapped her wings, "it's simple, I believe they deserve a second chance. Besides, I believe that time as a human for Yoshiya would help him realize his mistakes… and maybe regain something he's lost," she smiled as she said the last part, and suddenly with one more flap of her wings, she was gone in a flash of light.

"Psh… as if he hasn't," Tora could only grumble as he left.

Sssssssssssssssssssssss

Down in the RG, a spiky orange haired male leaned against the statue of Hatchiko, listening to his mp3. He wore the usual all 'Jupiter of the Monkey' brand. Not too far from him now, a girl wearing a green blouse, white mini skirt, black leggings, and white sneakers came running up to him. She adjusted her glasses and giggled at him, knowing that he hasn't noticed that she arrived. She walked up and tapped his shoulder, making him jump a little. He slid down his head phones and sighed, "Shiki, next time walk in front of me."

Shiki giggled again and winked at him, "well you're extra jumpy today, Neku,"

"Ya think?" Neku said, tugging on a strand of his hair, "… I honestly thought I got over it. It's been two months since the game and I'm still an alert freak. I'm not usually like this, really."

Shiki nodded and looked at Hachiko, "you took a whole lot from the game than we did. Don't worry! You'll get over it, it just takes time,"

"… I guess you're right. But…"

"But?"

Neku stared up at the Hachiko statue and recalled memories of the game, all three weeks. The silence passed between them, the passerby's who chatted on their phones, talked to their friends, and the sounds of their laughter and cries undisturbed them, "… never mind," Neku said, then turned to Shiki and smiled, "what's important now, is that we're here, back to our lives." Shiki responded with a grin, agreeing with him.

"YO PHONES!"

Both Neku and Shiki turned and saw Beat and Rhyme running towards them. The two siblings, almost wearing similar hats, halted as they reached the other two. The older sibling, Beat Bito, wore a sleeveless white shirt, a skull necklace, and red shorts. His little sister Rhyme Bito, wore an orange sweater with a skull design at the front, and white shorts.

"The Beatsta' has arrived," said Beat, jumping off his skateboard. Neku could only roll his eyes, "great, all three of us plus Beaver here, is accounted for,"

"Yo I ain't no Beaver," said Beat who raised his fist in the air towards Neku. All three of them could only laugh, leaving the poor older Bito confused. That completely dissolved once his stomach started growling, "Man I'm hungry,"

"Let's head over to Ramen Don," Rhyme said with her always cheerful expression. The rest agreed and headed towards the scramble. Neku took a few steps forward, and then stopped. He looked up at the sky thinking about him; _it would have been five… if you were here, Josh._

**( sry, but this isn't a Josh/Neku fanfic : if anything, this story also deals with their friendship as well)**


	3. Wow

**(hmm… I think I forgot to point out where Joshua lived in the prologue…)**

**CHAPTER 2**

_Young Joshua looked up at the statue of Hachiko, trying to imagine what the dog would look like in real life. His thoughts suddenly drifted to thinking about Maiya. It had been months since he left Paris France, and now being in a new and different environment, he wished he'd never left at all. He found Shibuya loud and noisy; there wasn't a place where he could have some solitude, besides home. _

_He checked the time and sighed, then looked back at Hachiko again, "looks like it's almost time for my appointment with Doctor Quack again," he said in an unenthusiastic tone. He felt a chill in the air and he shivered at the fall breeze that came around, "Maiya… I don't think I can take this. Nobody, not even my parents understand me like you do."_

_As he walked towards the scramble, his eyes followed the excitement in the UG. There was a particular group of two that he found interesting, and so decided to follow them. _

_They ran towards Cadoi City and having less stamina than the older kids, Joshua lagged behind fast. The two kids became a speck, and Joshua, who couldn't seem to go on any further, stopped on the side of the road to catch his breath, "those players, must have to run a lot," he breathed quietly to himself. Suddenly, he heard a loud scream from the far end of the road. He stood up looking ahead, watching the tattooed like forms quickly gathering there. He remembered that it was just like that time in the woods and remembering the death of the player and his partner. _

_He froze there for a while longer, then slowly and gradually started running. He didn't care how exhausted he is, he knew that he had to be there fast, thinking that he could save someone this time. He dodged the people walking on the streets while following the tattooed animals. The scream got louder and louder, ringing in his ears as he got closer and closer-_

"JOSH,"

Snapping his eyes open, he lifted himself from his bed, breathing heavily.

"Whoa there, you looked like you were having a bad dream."

Joshua saw Hanekoma standing beside him with his hands in his pocket, "sorry Josh, but I had to wake you up," Hanekoma said, putting his hand at the back of his neck.

Joshua, who's breathing had become steady, looked around the small room and remembering where they are. They were at the café and thankfully the old place is two-stories. He let out a relieved sigh and closed his eyes, "I guess this is the first day of the first week." Hanekoma nodded then walked towards the door. He turned back to Joshua, "you okay?"

Joshua didn't answer him and instead he glanced over towards the pin that was resting on the side table beside the bed. He took the pin and held it up, examining it once more, "I don't understand the point of this. I honestly don't even know what it does,"

"She gave it to you for a reason, ya know," Hanekoma chuckled, "breakfast is downstairs, better eat fast if you want to get to the Shibuya river on time," he said before he made his way out.

Joshua looked at the clock and sighed again, "five-thirty."

Ssssssssssssssssssss

Hanekoma locked the door to his café and along with Joshua; they headed towards the Shibuya River. There weren't very many people walking on the streets, which in Joshua's case, a few is better than many.

It was six forty-five when they arrived at 'Trail of the Sinner.' With the limited power he has, Joshua used up some of it to seal the path, so that nobody may enter and go further down, "finished," he said, taking a few steps back. "Hold it; lemme put a little magic just for extra protection," said Hanekoma.

"It's fine Sanae. You don't have to do anything to it," said Joshua in a rather serious tone. Hanekoma paused for a moment, wondering what the sudden change of attitude was about. He shrugged it off and left it alone, "I just wanted to make sure it's well protected, just in case-"

"Anyways," he interrupted, "we're going to be in the RG for a while. I guess in the meantime I could just loaf about, it would be nice to do absolutely nothing for a change," he took out the pin and stared at it. He then smiled and tossed it behind his shoulder, aiming for the river. Seeing this, Hanekoma gasped as he ran forward to catch it, "geez Josh,"

"What? Pins are only useful in the UG the last time I checked,"

"There's a reason why this is one of a kind. Besides, she gave you an order to protect it at all times,"

"And what do you think I'm doing?"

"… Drowning it?" Hanekoma replied sarcastically.

Joshua sighed and shook his head while smirking, "Sanae, Sanae, Sanae. Try to understand, if it hangs around with me, it'll get lost," he walked up to Hanekoma who was holding the pin up between his index finger and his thumb, which made it easy for Joshua to flick it into the dirty water, lost in the liquidly abyss. Hanekoma did try to catch it again, but missed this time. He slouched a little, feeling like they already failed on their duty. Placing a hand on the back of his neck, he stared at Joshua with a serious expression, "ya know Josh, you should be grateful that she's giving you a second chance. Really, this could be your last, if you end up failing such an easy task for the three weeks of your punishment you could wind up getting erased this time,"

"Relax Mr. H," said Joshua, still having that smirk on his face, "on the last week I'll come back to retrieve it, and look, the water is still. It's not like the pin's going to sprout arms and legs and swim away," he faced the other direction and started walking. Hanekoma could only sigh as he followed behind him, _I hope he knows what he's doing, _he thought.

Hanekoma and Joshua went their separate ways, watching Sanae teleport himself; Joshua promised the hip café owner that he'd be at the barista before dark and proceeded towards the station underpass, thinking about what he was going to do next.

Ssssssssssssssss

Neku yawned as he made his way to the statue of Hachiko, having gotten a call from Shiki so early in the morning about who knows what kind of problem she's having that would require him to meet up with her half asleep, he felt like he was going to regret this, thinking that her biggest problem would be not having enough sewing materials.

He is half way towards Hachiko now, and seeing a figure standing right in front of the statue, Neku immediately thought the person was Shiki. He was about to call her name but as the figure came into view, he realized that it was someone else. He noticed the long dark blonde hair, bangs on eye brow level. She wore a red headband, a white short sleve button up blouse and a red checkered ruffle mini skirt. He tilted his head slightly, watching her as she kept staring at Hachiko.

"Neku!" he heard someone call behind him. Neku turned and saw Shiki run right up, "s-sorry I'm late,"

"No problem," he said as he turned back to the girl, "someone else was here before us."

Shiki leaned to look past Neku and saw the girl, "hey, I know her,"

"You do?"

"Yep, she goes to my school, Eri introduced me to her. She's really smart and totally creative. Honestly, that girl's got such an imagination, but she always looks so… sad sometimes,"

Shiki and Neku watched at her for a while, he wondered what she was so sad about, and out of all the things she could be looking at, it was Hachiko. He decided to ignore it, knowing that whatever her problem is, it wasn't meant for anyone. He turned back to Shiki and was about to say something when he noticed her giving him the look. Neku blinked then took a few steps back, shaking his head, "oh no, I hope you're not thinking what I think you're thinking," with that, Shiki grabbed his arm and pulled Neku towards Hachiko, waving and calling her name, "Hey! What's up Maiya?"

The girl looked in the direction where she heard her name being called, "oh! Hello Shiki… and who might this be?"

"Maiya this is Neku, Neku this is Maiya," Shiki said, introducing the two. Maiya smiled, "hello,"

"Hey," Neku greeted.

"So you're the great Neku I've been hearing about from her, Shiki told me all about you. It's nice to finally meet you,"

"Really, Shiki told you all about me?" said Neku while glancing at Shiki who began to blush. She looked away feeling embarrassed, "h-hey, I talked about Beat and Rhyme too," she stuttered and Neku could only smirk at that. He quickly changed the subject thinking of the two Bito's, "Did you invite those two too?"

"Well um… no," Shiki said still blushing. It was only suppose to be Neku and herself, thinking that this day would be a great day to tell him her feelings towards him. But since Maiya was around, she held it back and thought of another reason why she would tell Neku to meet her up at Hachiko, "actually… I ran out of sewing materials. I kind of forgot to ask if you had any so that you'd bring them with you… and such."

_Figures, _Neku thought, tugging a strand of his hair.

"Hey! I have an idea! Maiya, Neku, you two must be hungry. Why don't we get something to eat at Ramen Don, it'll be my treat, and then do a little shopping for sewing materials afterwards,"

"What? The last time you did that-"

"I promise I won't make you try on outfits, it's sewing materials and only sewing materials that I need,"

"You said that last time… the last BILLION times," Neku crossed his arms. Shiki looked at him with those pleading eyes, "pleeeeeeeeeaase?"

Maiya giggled at the both of them, "I'm game, if Neku is. It'll give me a chance to get to know you a little more,"

"That's exactly it!" said Shiki with her eyes now sparkling. Neku sighed and tugged a strand of his hair again, _two against one, if Beat and Rhyme were here… actually, they'd probably take her side too._

"Ugh, fine. But you better be true to your word this time," he said facing the other way. Shiki jumped in delight, taking both of their hands and walking straight to Ramen Don.

Sssssssssssssssssss

Above the 104 building, two dark figures stared down at the ever growing crowd. They scanned the area as if looking for something, something valuable to them. One of them grumbled and suddenly vanished, warping to another area in Shibuya. The other shadowy figure looked back at the mindless people walking below before vanishing.

Down below, well hidden in the shadows of the buildings, Hanekoma emerged glaring at the top of the 104 building. He had seen the two and immediately knew that something strange was going on. He couldn't see their faces, but he knew they were bad news. In fact, speaking of bad news, Hanekoma could feel Shibuya's vibe shifting back and fourth slightly, and this worried him, _Josh, I hope you can feel it too. If not, then I hope you realize it soon._

Ssssssssssssssssssss

The time had gone by quickly as the morning sun was now about to set in the horizon. Neku was satisfied by how well the shopping went, with Shiki keeping her word all throughout the day, and getting to know a new friend. The trio headed back to Hachiko, talking and laughing on the way there. Neku heard his phone beep, and so took it out and checked the text message, "looks like the siblings are on there way here." Shiki heard her own phone beep and saw the text message too, "yep, looks like they want to hang out for awhile. You staying Neku?"

Neku nodded, closing his phone and putting it back in his pocket. Shiki smiled, "I'll tell them we're here already. Maiya, would you like to join us too? You'll get a chance to meet Beat and his little sister Rhyme."

Maiya held her hand up in an apologetic manner, "I'm sorry, but I have to be home before dark. My apologies, I really wish I could," she turned to take a good look at Hachiko, sadness enveloping her once more. Shiki tilted her head and wondered what was with the gloomy atmosphere all of the sudden. Maiya closed her eyes and then turned back at them with a cheery look on her face, "hey! we should do this again next time, I really would love to meet the siblings," she bowed her head, "thanks Shiki and Neku for a really awesome time today and it was nice getting to know you. I hope you and I become good friends."

"No problem," said Neku, "and you don't have to do that," he placed a hand around his shoulder, rubbing it slightly while glancing away. Maiya nodded, "well, I'll see you later then," she said running past them. Shiki and Neku waved to her and her doing the same as she kept on running. Suddenly, something had caught Neku's eye as it swiftly dodged the crowd, at what it looked like to be at top speed. His eyes widened then looked back at Maiya who was oblivious to it all, but as soon as she turned around, it hit her or rather, accidently ran into him.

Maiya blinked realizing she's on the ground. Or was it?

"Watch where you're going," she heard someone groan underneath her. She gasped and pulled herself up muttering apologies, "I-I'm so sorry I didn't mean to run into-" she slowed her sentence to a stop as she saw him. They stared at each other, realizing something about the other that they recognized. Time was still for the two of them and in that time, both of them were only able to say one word.

"…wow."


	4. The Memories Of You

**(I edited this as best as I could : )**

**CHAPTER 3**

_**"Watch where you're going," she heard someone groan underneath her. She gasped and pulled herself up muttering apologies, "I-I'm so sorry I didn't mean to run into-" she slowed her sentence to a stop as she saw him. They stared at each other, realizing something about the other that they recognized. Time was still for the two of them and in that time, both of them were only able to say one word.**_

_**"…wow."**_

~before~

Hours ago before they accidently ran into each other, Joshua, having already thought of what to do, walked into an alleyway, up the fire escape stairs, then pulled himself up on a roof of a building near the West Exit Bus Terminal. He stood atop there, taking in the view. Actually, it wasn't that much of a view as the building wasn't as high as the 104 building, but it was good enough for him at least. Joshua plopped down at the edge, closed his eyes, and with his remaining powers for the day, he tuned in to the vibe of Shibuya. Thoughts had begun buzzing in his head and soon they turned into an orchestral melody. Each song a person has is different and all together; it made the song of Shibuya.

It was in perfect sync, he could stay there for the whole day, just listening to it if only he wasn't limited. The vibe was normal until suddenly, he heard a slight shift from it, as if the notes had been twisted to make an odd buzzing or scratching noise. It kept shifting back and fourth, affecting everyone's music. Joshua tuned out and blinked his eyes open, "now that was unpredictable," he said to himself placing a hand on his chin. He thought about what would have caused it, many answers came popping up in his head, knowing that it could have been just about anything trying to shift the balance itself. Thinking about it, Joshua helped himself off the ground, placing his hands in his pockets and watching the pedestrians walk by. He could feel the sudden change of emotions and how the twist had affected them, _I need to talk to Sanae about this._

He sighed and closed his eyes again, feeling the breeze brushing his face. He felt disappointed with the little power he had now. Thankfully, it would only be for today, which is why he's so eager for nightfall to come. He needed to recharge his energy, and the only way he could do that is by a good night's rest. But that would be hours away until that happened, his biggest problem now is to figure out what to do until then.

Many hours have passed, and the sun was close to setting. On top of the same building sat a lonely and very bored figure, which stared at the same horizon with a poker face look, and had just begun growing mushrooms on a few spots on his body. He then clutched on his hair as he fell backwards, "UGH! THIS IS SO BORING!" Joshua shouted out. He relaxed as he stared at the sky, _honestly, there's hardly anything to contribute in the RG. It's as dull as ever. _He stared up for a while longer, then got up, dusted his pants, and slowly walked towards the stairs.

As soon as he made his way out of the alleyway, Joshua stopped in his tracks when he saw two police cars parked near the sidewalk. The two cops were talking to a man on a bike who seemed a little freaked out at the moment, he could tell by the amount of noise gathering around him which made him wrinkle his nose a little, _great, not only has she brought me back alive, but she brought back my sight as well, _he thought, crossing his arms. He noticed that the driver's sides of the police cars are open. He placed a hand on his chin, thinking, and as he did, his lips curved looking at the cars menacingly.

The poor man on the bike only wanted to know how to get to the shopping district; instead he got stuck in an argument with the policemen's until he pointed out a little theft happening behind them. The two turned around only to see a young man taking the keys out of the ignition of the second car while holding the first batch of keys from the first car in his other hand, "HEY YOU!" one of the policemen yelled out.

Joshua turned to see them rushing towards him. He smirked and started running himself, _now THIS is fun._

He led them around in circles, from the Bus Terminal to the Station Underpass, and back again. The two cops were now slowing down tremendously, losing their breath, "th… that kid is… fast," one of them said between breaths.

Joshua, slowing himself down to make sure they were still on his tracks, knew he had become victorious and decided that enough was enough. He was about to stop when he heard a faint melody. His smirk disappeared while he was listening to it, mentally tuning out his surroundings.

The melody is familiar to him, but he couldn't seem to put his finger on it, _where have I heard this before?_ He thought. It had been so long, the blurry memories of way back then started to become clearer, and now finding himself staring at a little girl. He knew that girl, _she's Maiya right? She has to be… is she?_ He tried to shake the thought off his head, but the more he did, the more they became visible in his mind, it was then that he started to feel a slight headache and the pain kept throbbing with every memory of her that entered. The song got louder and louder and as much as he wanted to stop himself from going any further, he couldn't help but keep running as it seemed to be pulling him towards it. Joshua easily maneuvered through the crowds and was about to pass Hachiko until it happened. He got hit by something, or someone. The force lifted him off his feet slightly, and sent him crashing down.

"Watch where you're going," he groaned.

The last bit of those memories had been restored as the melody came to a sudden stop. He snapped his eyes open as if it hit him in the face, and it might as well have. His eyes grew wide, taking in the familiar look. He wanted to say her name, but instead, he whispered, "wow."

~after~

Neku and Shiki just stared at the scene, small groups of people were gathering, asking them if they're alright, but neither Joshua nor Maiya replied to them as they were as still as stone in that position, "… I believe they're… having a moment?" Shiki said quietly to Neku who looked at her from the corner of his eyes.

Maiya was the first to snap out of the trance upon hearing a loud voice from behind, "we… we gotcha now!" said one of the two cops that followed. Maiya turned her head and saw them from far away, looking tired and sweaty (Luckily the chase didn't affect their eye sight). She looked back and saw the two keys Joshua was holding and glared at him, but Joshua could only give her an innocent looking smile.

As the cops came nearer, Maiya took the keys from his hand, and then stood up to face them, hands behind her back and smiling sweetly. They staggered to a stop, bending down to catch their breath, which sounded like it'll take an eternity to do, _they are seriously out of shape, if you ask me, they did needed the exercise, _thought Joshua who helped himself up. His focus turned back to Maiya who was holding out the keys in front of the two. Just then, Neku and Shiki came running towards them, Shiki standing next to Maiya, and Neku near his ex-partner, "Joshua," he called.

"Why hello there Neku. I hope you've been behaving without me," Joshua replied, flipping his hair and having that smug look on his face. Neku had to hold back on smacking him being replied to that,_ I haven't seen this basterd for months, and this is the greeting I get?_ He had so many questions to ask him even if he wasn't going to get a straight answer, like where had he been? Why didn't he destroy Shibuya? Why this? Why that? He also had a lot of questions that dealt with Hanekoma (aka CAT). Since the end of the last game, Neku had been paying Hanekoma a visit in his ruined café, which wasn't so ruined after seven seconds he came in. he remembered seeing him magically work everything back together by a simple drawing on the wall. Now he could have asked him those questions then and there, but Neku never got around to asking him any of those, he always felt shy to ask every time he was around the café owner probably because he is his biggest fan.

"Th… Thank you, young lady," said cop as he took the keys from Maiya. Neku walked over and stood next to Shiki with his hands in his pockets.

Maiya just smiled sweetly and replied, "You're very welcome sir. I'm sorry about my friend; he's kind of a dope sometimes."

As their breathing started to slow, the cop who took the keys, tipped his hat, "sorry just isn't enough, your friend needs to come with me. Now sir-" when he checked behind Maiya and the others, the ash blonde haired teen was nowhere to be seen, "drat," the cop grumbled, "he got away again." The other cop who was still bent over, looked up and around the area, "I bet he escaped using the crowd as cover. Probably headed back to Bus Terminal,"

"We'd better get a move on then; it'll be faster to search by car." With that, the two cops made their way towards the Bust Terminal and out of sight. Shiki placed a hand on her hips, glancing at them with disgust, "all of that because of a pair of keys? Police these days,"

"There are worse crimes to deal with out there than this," agreed Maiya, who was scanning the area herself. Shiki slid her glasses up and tilted her head, "… say, Maiya… do you know him?"

Maiya glanced at Shiki as she continued to speak, "it's just that, you two were staring at each other for quite some time, and you did call him 'friend' so I thought-"

"YO!"

They heard Beat call as well as the sound of his skateboard; Rhyme was on his back waving to them. The streetlights were all on, making the city of Shibuya light up beautifully, as if Shibuya was the sun itself just like any typical big city. Maiya blinked then checked the time on her phone, "I need to get going," she said as she sprinted off again, "s-see ya!" Shiki shouted, a little disappointed that she didn't get an answer.

Beat skids his skateboard to a stop and let Rhyme down from his back, "who was with you guys?" she asked

"And why'd she hav'ta run off like that? Did I scare her?" said Beat afterwards. Neku glanced at the spot where Joshua was, and just like the cops and Maiya, he glanced around the area too, giving up shortly. He sighed then told Beat and Rhyme about the girl that just left.

Behind the Hachiko statue stood the composer himself, having a hand on his forehead as he thought about the things that happened when he heard the melody. Those memories came at him in a flash, but how could he forget about someone like her and yet still remember her name? He leaned against the statue and sighed, then took a peek towards the small group of four. They were occupied which gave Joshua the perfect time to slink off without being noticed.

Ssssssssssssssssss

He made his way towards Cat Street, still thinking about the event. He had to go back a ways, remembering about the downfall of the previous composer and the rise of… well… himself. To be composer, one must have to sacrifice many things, this included giving up the thing that he held dear to him. He smiled remembering now. He had given a small note to Hanekoma before the duel with the previous composer.

~flashback~

"_I did it Sanae," Joshua said, leaning back in his chair, hands behind his head, and putting on a victorious smirk._

_Hanekoma chuckled, "so I've heard J, congratulation's! Let's celebrate with some coffee. And I guess that means I'll have to call ya boss now,"_

"_Whatever name you'd feel comfortable with. Also, I've already decided on how to reformat the games so that it's fair for everyone,"_

_Hanekoma chuckled again and gave Joshua his cup of coffee. He sat across from the new composer and heard a slight crinkle noise in his pocket, "oh yea! I almost forgot. Here, this is for you." He held out the paper towards him. Joshua tilted his head and reached for the folded piece of small paper. He paused for a moment, confused on what could be on it. He unfolded it and read the only thing that was written, the only thing that, at the time, felt rather familiar, "…it says… Maiya."_

~end of flashback~

_That was it… wasn't it. _Joshua stopped in front of the café, still smiling. He looked up at the night sky seeing nothing but blue, _my entry fee, was memories of you._


	5. Curious Fellows

**(I believe I have forgotten to edit some things when I was re-reading it all… well, enjoy : ) )**

**CHAPTER 4**

During the morning of the next day, a reaper stood on top of a building with her hands on her hips while watching the sun rise, annoyed that all reapers in the UG are to be on a three week vacation. She tapped her foot checking her surroundings, then sighed and stared at the sun again. Another reaper appeared behind her in an instant, he took the lollipop out of his mouth and walked towards her, "and here I am, Uzuki,"

"YOU'RE LATE!" Uzuki growled, her short pink hair fluffing up a little, "I thought I told you to meet me here specifically at six, not six fifteen Kariya!"

"Easy girl," Kariya said in a calming tone, "I was checking up on something before I got here, I think you'll find it pretty interesting," the orange haired reaper placed the lollipop back in his mouth and twirled the stick slowly with his fingers. Uzuki turned her back towards him and folded her arms together, tapping her foot again in annoyance. He sighed and ran his hand through his orange hair, "Uzuki, you take your job so damn seriously. Look, a vacation is a vacation; you don't need to keep a look out for any players to sabotage."

"I'm not stopping until I get the promotion I deserve!"

"Yeah, yeah. So I take it, you don't want to see what I found hmm?"

"No, in fact, I couldn't care less," Uzuki replied turning to face him now. As soon as she did, ignoring her answer, Kariya held up a small pin to her. She blinked then tilted her head, "… you wanted to show me a blank pin?"

"Not just any pin, turns out, this is one of a kind." Uzuki was silent for a moment then burst out laughing, "are you serious Kariya? I mean, I know blank pins are uncommon, but they're not rare." He glared at her feeling somewhat disappointed in her, he flipped the pin in the air and smirked, catching it as it came back down, "I don't expect a reaper like you to understand," he said, knowing that his reply would tick Uzuki off. This time, it was her turn to glare at him, "just what are you saying?"

"I'm saying, if you took a closer look, you'll definitely see what's so special about it," said Kariya lifting his shoulders slightly. She stared at the pin that was now twirling at the tip of his finger; and after a while, she suddenly become curious. Also knowing that Kariya's been in the UG as long as she has and his knowledge goes beyond any reaper she's met, if Kariya saw something special, she knew it had to be. She grumbled and murmured to herself in defeat, "So… what is it about that pin that I should find interesting?" Kariya grinned, feeling excited to tell her until he felt a sudden shiver down his spin. He rolled his hand into a fist, hiding the pin in it. He began scanning around, looking left and right, and checking every rooftop on the buildings that surrounded them. The feeling he felt was rather strong and it sent a rather unpleasant vibe to him. Uzuki, confused, suddenly worried about him, "um Kariya? Are you like-"

"I can't tell you about it here. So it looks like we need to take off," he interrupted then jumped up and vanished. Confused but still curious about the pin, she vanished too, and followed his vibe.

Atop another building, a dark figure emerged from the shadows. Grinning and laughing lightly, the figure rushed and jumped from one building to another, going towards the next destination.

Ssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Grabbing the sugar from the cupboard and some cream, Hanekoma sat behind the register and poured the added ingredients to his beloved mug of coffee. He took a sip of it and smiled in delight, "just the way I wanted," he said to himself. He glanced towards one of the booths on the side of the café, seeing the same person who sat there yesterday night. Except now, that person is laying down, slightly curled up, with an arm holding his head and Hanekoma's vest covering most of his upper body. He chuckled, remembering last night when Joshua had come in calling his name. He looked like he wanted to tell him something, which was good because he had something to tell the teen also. So they sat down to chat and Hanekoma had agreed to go first, and no later than five seconds after he started, Joshua was knocked out, fell into an abyss called sleep.

He placed a hand at the back of his head and rubbed it, sighing to himself about yesterday, "I should have told him not to use his powers so much." He heard Joshua groaned then saw him turn and position himself on his stomach, with one hand and one leg hanging from the edge of the seat

Sssssssssssssssssssssssss

Afternoon came around and as Hanekoma was at the back cleaning the kitchen top, he heard the bell to the door ring, signaling that a customer has just entered, "be right there," Hanekoma hollered from the back. He washed his hands and wiped them with a dry towel until he heard a familiar voice through the other side of the wall that divided the kitchen and the eating area, "I knew I'd find his lazy ass here." He took a peek out and saw a familiar looking orange haired teen standing next to sleepyhead Joshua, "phones!"

"Hey Mr. H," waved Neku now giving Hanekoma his attention. Hanekoma waved back and looked from him to Joshua, "sorry kid, but he's out cold, he used way too much of his energy yesterday. So it's best to keep him that way so that he can recharge,"

"…Recharge?" said Neku. Hanekoma waved his hand in the air, "ehh, long story phones. I think that's something you'd have to ask Josh about." He took a sip of his coffee and leaned forward on the counter, "so what will it be today?"

"Huh?"

"The menu Neku,"

"Oh," Neku shook his head. As soon as he saw Joshua when he came in, the questions he asked over and over again began floating around in his head. He blinked and looked up, "actually I just came here to see if Joshua was here…"

Hanekoma raised an eyebrow, then snickered walking around the counter and towards Neku, "aww, did ya miss him that much?" he said patting the glaring boy on the head. Neku grumbled a little and pushed away his hand, he took a seat crossing his arms looking directly at the sleeping composer. He relaxed and thought about the meeting after the game, where Shiki, Beat, Rhyme, and himself met for the first time in a week, "you know… I don't understand why he didn't meet us at Hachiko… I was really looking forward to it." Hanekoma placed his coffee down at the nearest table next to Neku, rubbing the back of his neck again, "he is composer you know, he's been pretty busy after the game. We all were,"

_Pff, HIM? BUSY? Hard to believe. He's as lazy as an old dog that can't learn new tricks, _thought Neku sarcastically. As solitude fell among them, Neku took a glance through the windows of the café, watching the people absentmindedly walk by, "Mr. H," he said, still looking out the window. Hanekoma was about to take another sip of his coffee but paused and smirked already been, and have been, knowing what the boy was trying to say, "I know you have questions for me Neku. I'll answer them to the best of my knowledge, but understand that I can't give away too much." Neku cringed slightly, wondering how Mr. H could know such a thing without asking, _oh right… scanning, _he assumed. He made a mental note in his head to remind him to ask Joshua for 'lying' lessons when he wakes up. He sighed, scratching the side of his orange spiked hair, "I've been wondering, about the relationship between you and Joshua. I've been assuming, that you knew him since he was much younger,"

"Correct!" he said, leaning against his chair and closing his eyes. Worried about the now silence between them, Hanekoma took a peek from one of his eyes and saw Neku patiently sitting there staring at him, "hmm? What?"

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Are you going to tell me about it?"

"Oh, I see," he said leaning forward to make the chair stand straight as Neku rolled his eyes at him. He snapped his fingers and suddenly a bubble formed around them. In an instant, the bubble turned transparent, slicing itself at the middle and sliding down, like an eye opening to see the world. Neku freaked out a little but calmed down as it transformed, "what the hell was that?"

"Come on Neku, it's a bearer. To keep voices in, and unwanted ears out,"

"Why? It's only the three of us here, and one is skipping around dream land," said Neku, returning to his seat. Sanae raised a hand up, "just in case he wakes up. Truth is, he doesn't want me telling other people stuff about our past, but I personally don't mind. And trust you, so keep this between you and me, aight champ?"

Neku nodded.

Ssssssssssssssssssssssss

Down at the Shibuya River, Kariya was keeping an eye out for any unknown's lurking around, while Uzuki was fixing her hair using a pocket mirror. Seeing as the coast is clear, he calmly walked up to Uzuki with his hands on his hips, "are we done running now? And when are you going to tell me about that pin?" she asked, placing the mirror in her pocket. He took the pin out from his vest pocket and examined it, "I found it here, in the water," he said then tossed it over to Uzuki, who caught it like it was nothing. Her eyes widen in surprise when she felt an enormous power envelop her. Kariya grinned, "See?"

"This feeling. How could something like this puny thing, make you feel so powerful? I didn't know something like this existed in the UG,"

"That's the thing, it's not from the UG," answered Kariya, unwrapping a lollipop he took from his other pocket and sticking it in his mouth, "its home is the holy realm above us,"

"You don't say," squeaked Uzuki in delight. She laughed and put herself in fighting position. As she did, the pin in her hand began glowing brightly, "let's see what this is made of." She jumped and attacked in mid-air, pulling out her gun and firing pink flower bullets at the wall. As the bullets came in contact, Uzuki realized that the impact wasn't any different. She looked back at the pin that wasn't glowing anymore, and as being quick to anger, Uzuki crazily fired continuously at the wall. Kariya sighed and floated up towards her, "you gotta calm down girl," he said now hearing the firing stop. Uzuki turned to him with a loud growl, "WHY ISN'T IT WORKING? This piece of trash must have low battery or something!"

"Listen up," Kariya spoke, taking the pin from her, "it's not working because you are not its primary holder, rarely will it work on someone like ourselves." Uzuki was about to throw a tantrum when they heard a slow clap from behind them, "interesting… very, interesting," they heard a voice say. Kariya shivered a bit, wondering how he didn't sense that intense vibe sooner. They turned and saw a black hooded figure floating higher than they were. He chuckled and stopped his clapping, "you are quite intelligent for one so low in a rank, you could certainly go much higher," the figure said to Kariya who didn't answer back. He chuckled again and held out his hand covered by his long sleeves, "no need to fear, that pin is all I want. You see, I am its true holder, the only being to control and use its power."

Uzuki didn't make any move to bring the pin to him, she disliked ominous people and the hooded man has made it to her list of people that a lady, like herself, should avoid, "how about you buzz off creep. Like, haven't you ever heard of 'finders' keepers?' "

"You don't appear to understand. NOBODY but me can handle its power,"

"Ugh, you know you don't have to say it again. Big deal,"

"Besides," said Kariya, deciding to jump in the conversation, "it's pretty obvious that it isn't. Even with a person with your kind of vibe." The hooded man rested his arm to his side, disappointed, "… then it looks like I'll have to do it the hard way." Just like a flash of lighting, he swiftly moved forward towards Uzuki. A dark blade emerged out of his sleeve and slashed. Quick on his feet, Kariya pushed Uzuki aside, leaving the man to slice nothing but air.

Sssssssssssssssssssss

"so you want to know about our history," said Hanekoma.

Neku tugged his hair feeling guilty and embarrassed at the same time. Of course, he had been very curious and maybe Mr. H could give him some tips to withstand Joshua's sassy antics.

"Did you know that Joshua never use to be so clever, sly, and even snotty?"

Neku adjusted himself so that his arm is resting on the table with his hand holding his head up. One leg was on a chair in front of him while the other leg just stayed in place. Hanekoma continued, "Back then, you can read him like a book, but he didn't seem especially worried about it. He was one happy kid… at least, he seemed that way," he laughed, "he's a little shy at first, but he gets around in no time and honestly, he grows on ya,"

"Pshh, yeah right,"

"See? Im right. He grew on you too now didn't he? You never thought you'd see him as a friend at first." Neku thought about the game on the week where Joshua was his partner, and yes, after a couple days, he didn't mind Joshua at all, though he wished that he was a little straighter forward on his answers every time Neku asked him a question. "It's hard to believe that 'prissy kid' use to be shy; he always seems so… talkative, like he doesn't know when to shut the hell up sometimes,"

Hanekoma laughed again, "well… I guess you can say it's because of me. I gave him tips on being assertive. I mean, at an age so young, its better if they face their fears, have them crack open the shell a little, and eventually the shell will be nothing but pieces of the weakness that we've long forgotten,"

"Makes sense," said Neku, thinking about it. Hanekoma traced the top of his mug, making the steam from the coffee swirl around like a mini tornado, "heh, you're quick Neku, of course that's what I expect from you," he looked back at Joshua and smiled, "and so is he, that quick witted son of mine." Neku almost fell out of his chair when he commented on Joshua. For some reason, it was as if the message grew wheels and ran him over. Hanekoma glanced at the boy who was staring back at him in disbelief, "hey phones, you feelin' alright?"

He shook a little trying to process whatever he just heard from his biggest idol. This made him see both Hanekoma and Joshua differently than before, "he… he's your KID?!"

**(and I'll leave it off from here so that it isn't too long :3 )**


	6. Battles and Risks

**(pretty hard chapter to write, with so many things going on in this. But I am expecting to write more complicated things like this in future chapters. Hopefully they won't be that bad. : 3)**

**CHAPTER 5**

_Whoa, slow down, _Neku thought as he slumped on his chair, feeling like the world was spinning. He tried to think of how this could all be possible, sure CAT never showed himself in public, he knew that the artist's information is pretty scarce so it was no wonder most people don't know much about him, except that he's a famous graffiti artist, But for him to have a son?

Hanekoma lifted his eyebrow, secretly scanning Neku's thoughts. He snickered while setting his coffee down, "Legally, yes. He is my 'son.' But biologically speaking? No." Neku blinked then he breathed out feeling relieved. Neku sat up and spoke to Sanae, now thinking about Joshua's biological parents, "but what about his real parents? What happen to them?" he glanced at the ground for a while, remembering how much he missed his mother and father during the games and he didn't even realize it until he returned home, "… doesn't he miss them?"

Hanekoma twirled his mug slowly, being gentle of how he moved it. His smile he was always wearing had transformed into a neutral looking expression. After taking his time to answer, Hanekoma finally spoke up, sighing as he did, "to answer your second question… there was an… accident, a month after Joshua and I met," as the memory flew around in his mind, Hanekoma giggled slightly as he remembered the day they came face to face, the day that the young eight year old snuck into his café during the coldest winter that Shibuya's ever had. Neku was silent, moving his head down slightly so that the top of his hair covered his eyes. Hanekoma continued, "it had been days since I talked to the kid, and when he finally strolled back in the café… the poor kid looked miserable, let's just put it that way. Of course overtime he grew out of it, but ya know. No matter how old he is, no matter how he tries to cover it up, he's still just a child, missing his mother and father. Teasing and bullying didn't help mend it either, he doesn't see it, but it made him worse."

This brought Neku back to the first week he entered the game, thinking about what Shiki had told him, that everyone needs a good listener. He thought that maybe if he could get Joshua to open up to him, then maybe he could help him… _Shiki, what have you done to me, _he thought, thinking that he's a total psycho to listen to his murderers sob story.

"So… he was bullied back then."

Hanekoma began to chuckle. Neku glanced at him in an odd way. Hanekoma shook his head, smiling again, "Joshua bullied? The last time I checked, he was the one picking fights, but for a good reason. If he saw someone getting hurt, he'd jump right in to defend them and start some sort of a brawl,"

"Sheesh, sounds like Beat,"

"I know right?" Hanekoma laughed, "eventually he grew up and calmed down… but, it was like no matter what he did, he's always going to be teased about 'Seeing the dead,' even the victims started to hop on that wagon. Eventually, he got tired of it all and stopped his recklessness. All he wanted to do was to be alone, away from everyone. All he saw in his world was himself."

Ssssssssssssssssssss

The hooded man got himself ready for another attack of his blade. Uzuki, who had her eyes closed all this time, slowly opened them, finding herself in Kariya's arms. She had never been this close to him before and being wrapped in his arms made her feel safe, "K-Kariya," she whispered as she blushed, "you need to give me that pin, now," said Kariya glancing at her.

Before they knew it, the hooded man had teleported himself closer to them, drawing his blade up. Kariya pushed Uzuki away, letting the blade pass between them. The man swiftly swung the other way, holding out his blade. The tip of it sliced Kariyas vest and the skin on his chest. He grunted while quickly balancing himself in the air. He held a hand on his chest and looked down at it, seeing fresh blood dripping.

"Kariya!" Uzuki called. She glared back at the man and pointed her gun at him; "you're going to pay for that!" she fired using the same attack she did before, shooting him multiple times. When the bullets made close contact, Uzuki became surprised, seeing as they slowly dissolved into his body, each and every one of them. Uzuki stopped firing, staring at him with a confused expression at the site before her, "what's going on?" she whispered.

As the hooded man absorbed the last of the bullets, Kariya breathed in deep and began making a ball of energy. Thinking this would be the right time to attack, the ball of energy charged towards him, hoping it would do some damage. The man turned his head and grinned, having the same thing happen to Uzuki's bullets, "your attacks will have nothing on me, you low rank imbeciles."

"Shit," hissed Kariya, the other forming another ball of energy.

"It looks to me like you want to die first," the hooded man laughed and swiftly flew towards him. Uzuki flew towards the two, holding out her gun and trying to aim for him. Kariya threw the energy ball towards him again, only to be sliced in half by his dark blade. When he got closer, he swung the blade sideways. Kariya dodged just in time and called out to Uzuki who began firing. The man turned and slashed sideways sending a sharp wave of air, halting the bullets and sending them helplessly falling. The wave made an impact, slamming her painfully on the stomach and sending her tumbling backwards. It was like being hit with a baseball bat, hard enough to pull the air out of your body for a while. Seeing her tumbling down and hitting the ground hard, Kariya flew towards her until he felt the same vibe right by his side. As soon as he turned, the man slammed the flat side of his blade on his back, knocking him forward and landing harshly beside Uzuki, the painful impact paralyzed him fully.

"It's so sad that it has to end this way for you two," said the man faking his sad voice, "hmm… I guess, it'll be best to, 'erase' you now than later."

Uzuki struggled to get up, but as soon as she did, she collapses back down, "that's just great, now what?" she said to herself. Kariya tried moving his hand towards his pocket, but with every inch he went, the pain grew stronger and stronger, "hey, take the pin from my pocket," he said to her weakly, "it'll get the both of us out of here,"

"There's no way I'm backing out. I'm going to win even if it kills me,"

"Uzuki, we can't-,"

She lifted her upper body and reached down his pocket, pulling out the pin he needed, then placed it in his hand along with the blank pin, "if you want to run away so badly then that's just fine with me. And take that crummy thing with you, it's useless anyways." She struggled again to stand and this time she did so successfully. She glared directly at the man who was about to get ready for another attack with his blade, "hmm? You still want to fight?"

"Damn right! I'm not finished with you yet!" her wings glowed slightly, signaling that she was recovering a little bit. She flew back up in the air and fired her blue bullets this time. The man dodged them but to his surprise, it was following him wherever he teleported too. Uzuki grinned and used her other attack, firing continually at him, and hoping that one of the blue bullets cut his defense. As if luck was upon her, the man did receive hits from the blue bullets. He raised his blade and used another wave to stop the attack, but to no avail. Uzuki aimed and shot her pink flower bullets, and with the help of the blue bullets, it seemed like a critical hit. Finally she's got him, the huge explosion in the air created a huge cloud of dust and bits of powder.

With the pain being less and less painful, Kariya is able to turn himself over on his back. His eyes widened, surprised yet shocked by the situation. He called out to her for the last time. Before she knew it, the blade had stabbed her right through the back.

Ssssssssssssssssssss

Hanekoma shot his eyes open and quickly stood up from his seat. Neku, who was thinking about what he last said to him, turned to him in confusion for the quick reaction, "Mr. H, are you alright?"

Hanekoma didn't answer back. He clenched his teeth tightly, his hands curling to a fist, _there it is again, _he thought, calming himself down. Neku was about to reach out a hand to him until suddenly the barrier became visible again, then dispersed, "I think we should talk another time, it's getting pretty late. Don't you have something planned with your parents tonight?" said Hanekoma with a kind smile. Neku, realizing how dark it's suddenly becoming, checked the time on his MP3 player with one push of the only button on there, "CRAP! We were all going to eat out at this new restaurant tonight," he said bolting towards the door. He stopped in his tracks, then turned around, "let's talk tomorrow?"

"Well… to be honest Phones, if you want more depth to all of your questions…" Hanekoma jerked his head towards Joshua. Neku sighed, knowing what he meant; _he's never going to give me an answer you know._

"Heh, you'd probably be surprised, he will sooner or later… maybe never,"

_I really wish you'd stop reading my mind, don't you dare become another Joshua Mr. H, _he thought as he glared at the café owner. Hanekoma laughed while walking towards him, "alright kid, sorry." Neku chuckled and looked back at the teen resting, then ran out the door.

Neku ran as fast as he could, getting somewhere was pretty easy now that he doesn't have to keep dodging slow ass people on the streets. What Hanekoma told him before he left, stuck to his mind like a screw on a piece of plank, "… all he saw in his world… was himself," he whispered.

Hanekoma switched the sign of his café from Open to Closed, then ran his hand through his hair, "you could have at least said goodbye to him."

"… I suppose so. But I did greet him before I came back yesterday," Joshua finally spoke, being awake the whole time Neku and Sanae were talking. He made no move to get up or even open his eyes. Sanae walked up to the table and leaned on the edge of it, "so you met all of them yesterday?"

"Just Neku and that one girl… Shiki was it?" Joshua sat up and fixed his hair which perfectly aligned itself. He sighed and stared at the table, thinking about the other girl that was with them. Emotions started stirring just thinking about her, honestly, he wasn't sure how to react to that or why he's feeling the way he did, _Maiya._

Momentarily scanning him, Hanekoma smirked at the young composer, amused by his attitude. Sanae cleared his throat and decided to get down to business, "hey, you felt that too didn't you?"

"Oh? Why yes, that was what I was going to talk to you about yesterday. Something strange is at play here in Shibuya,"

"It felt like it's gotten slightly worse today. What are you going to do about it? Surely this thing is going to be a threat to us sooner or later,"

"I understand that… what's the use?" said Joshua gleefully, laying back down. Sanae frowned at his response, "hold it, what?"

"What can I do? I'm a human now and my powers are limited in both strength and use. There's nothing I can possibly do to stop whatever's happening, at least until my three weeks are up."

"Come on J, you're not even going to try? If we can figure out how to eliminate the problem now, since it's not such a big threat yet, then we can save Shibuya from disaster,"

"Oh really? How do you know it'll become a disaster?"

Hanekoma stood there silent, thinking about what he was going to say. He got where Joshua was going with this, what if the threat is something simple? What if its growth is slow? What if, after three weeks, it's still a small problem that can be fixable?

"You see?" said Joshua, playing with a small string of his hair, "in a hopeless situation like this, it's better to just wait and watch."

Sanae ran his hand on the back of his neck, "… whatever you say."

Sssssssssssssssssssssss

Down at the Hachiko statue, Maiya stood there in front of it, looking at it with those sad eyes, _Joshua… I've got to find him._


	7. Life is Too Important

**CHAPTER 6**

The higher angle sat on her throne room having a conference with two of her captains and the few assistance that she summoned, "ever since Shibuyas composer descended, the nature of the city has been changing," said the captain who stood before her.

"Could it be because Shibuyas composer is absent?"

"Nonsense," She heard as they chatted amongst themselves. She leaned back on her chair thinking about the change happening to Shibuya. It occurred to her that it wasn't happening in any other zones, so why this? Sensing that the room became quiet, she looked at the concerned faces of the angels. One of them stood up and spoke, "… what should we do?"

She shut her eyes tight for a moment letting the silence take over. It was hard to make a plan, especially with a threat they're not so familiar with. The higher angel made no move or eye contact with either of them. Tora, who is once again, right by her side, sat there bored and rolling his eyes at the situation while his fingers tapped on his knee.

She stood from her seat and looked at the angel who stood, "Akiyoshi, whoever is trying to run this city, changing its vibe and affecting the people, must have quite the skill to do it. I have an important mission for you."

Sssssssssssssssssss

"…"

"…"

"… YES!" Hanekoma shouted and chimed with joy from the booth, raising his hands up high in the air as if he just won a tournament. Joshua, on the other side of the booth, crossed his arms and pouted, "First Neku and now Sanae?" he mumbled quietly to himself, reeking the day that tin pin slammer was ever made. If it was anything he hated the most, it was losing at a simple game made for fifth graders. Hanekoma grabbed his winning pin and let it dance on his fingers, "looks like the deal is sealed,"

"I demand another try,"

"Nope, sorry kid. It was one game only that was the other deal, remember?"

"This isn't fair," Joshua grumbled

"It totally is! Com'on J, you've been sittin' around here doing nothing for the past two days. Besides, all I'm asking you is to do a little grocery shopping for me,"

"A little? Need I remind you the list of …'stuff' you gave me?" Joshua blurted out while taking a neatly folded piece of paper out from his pocket and unfolded as he held it out, revealing a rather long list, "front, and back."

"What can I say?" said Hanekoma, "I'm starting to run out of valuable mixes and ingredients."

_He just wants to give me something to do, _the young teen thought, knowing full well that he already has most, if not all, of the things listed. He sighed, putting the paper back in his pocket without folding it and letting half of the crumpled piece of thing hang beside his pants. As he was about to head out, Hanekoma called from behind, telling him to make sure he didn't forget the coffee beans.

He walked past the scramble, and having other things in mind besides doing his producers chores, he headed for the 104 building just up ahead.

Ssssssssssssssssssss

Rhyme and her other friends were enjoying their lunch break under a tree that provided them with shade. They talked and laughed until the bell rang, signaling that lunch is over. The other girls already have packed their lunch, waited for her to finish packing. Rhyme, unlike her other friends, had to clean up more than what she would have if she didn't pack lunch for herself, she packed enough for her group of friends to share, she was just getting into cooking and most of the stuff in the bento box were samples of her latest creations. "Raimu, do you need any help?" asked one of the girls. Rhyme looked up to her friend and smiled, "no thanks I can do it. You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up,"

"Okay, better catch us before we reach the stairs," her friend said and Rhyme nodded knowing that they'd wait for her anyways. Soon, she finds herself all alone. Placing her bento boxes in her bento bag, she tied it and made her way towards the building. On the far left to the entrance was a large metal garbage bin with a few garbage cans to the side of it. As she was about to enter the building, she heard a big bang on the other side of the bin and what sounded like someone groaning in pain.

Curious, she cautiously walked towards there, holding her bag tightly. She took a peek and gasped, recognizing the tall familiar orangey haired reaper.

Ssssssssssssssssssssss

"Just put this here, and… all done!" said Sanae successfully changing the filter for his coffee maker. He grabbed the hand towel next to it and wiped the side clean, for about the hundredth time this day. The coffee maker is Hanekomas prized possession, it was old, but still working. As he cleaned the top of it, he rests his head on it, closed his eyes, and cooed knowing that he was all alone, in his very own café. Or was he?

Teleporting himself in the kitchen, Akiyoshi stood behind the fallen angel, confused at him for silenty talking to a 'thing.' He cleared his throat and spoke, "Mr. Sanae Hanekoma."

Spooked, the fallen angel jumped, his feet lifting slightly. He then turned to face the intruder, quickly collecting his thoughts and recognizing an old friend of his, "A-Akiyoshi," he stuttered. Realizing that he was still hanging on to his beloved machine, he let go of it and tried to look professional as he possibly could, "w-what brings you here at this hour?" _seriously, you couldn't have chosen a better time?_

"She has sent me to come for you. It is urgent, you are to ascend with me immediately to the higher plain, she wishes to speak with you,"

"Huh? What could she possibly want?" Hanekoma murmered quietly to himself. He agreed and together they vanished into thin air.

Once at the higher realm, Hanekoma and Akiyoshi walked through the large hallway with walls made out of white marble, actually, that's the only thing the whole place is made out of besides the cloudy ground they walked on. The hallway led to a large golden door, the conference room where the higher angel is waiting. Her eyes shot open as she heard the door open, and as expected, it was one of her angels and the barista himself. A large oval shaped table is what separated the two from each other, and of course, the room itself is large, larger than the dead gods pad. Hanekoma glanced at Akiyoshi, who nodded at him, a sign of encouragement. Sanae took a deep breath, and nervously walked forward, "please, take a seat," said the higher angel, gesturing over to the empty chair beside her.

Sssssssssssssssss

Kariya awoke with the slightest bit of motion came and went as he felt himself being moved along. His eyes opened slightly, finding the ground under him moving slowly. He blinked a few times before realizing that he's being dragged to who knows where. He turned his head and saw her, the girl from the reaper game. His arm was swung over her shoulders, while her other hand was trying to support his upper body, "… you're pretty strong," he said weakly. Rhyme stopped, turning to him, "oh! You're awake!"

Kariya struggled to get on his feet but failed miserably. Rhyme tightened her grip, "don't try to move as much, you're badly hurt,"

"heh, thanks for reminding me,"

"I couldn't leave you at my school, someone would be sure to find you," Rhyme started to keep moving. Kariya looked around, finding himself in a maze of alleyways, "where are you taking me then?"

"Well I don't know where else to take you except the WildKat, I'm sure Mr. H can treat those wounds of yours,"

"I see… why are you helping me?"

Rhyme stopped again, puzzled by his question. Kariya smirked and chuckled at her, he knew that she knew what Uzuki and himself accidently did to her in the UG, he remembered clearly summoning that noise to erase his brother when it had been her who had been erased, "you could have just left me for dead, it would have settled the score, ya know." No movement, no sound from either one of them. He knew that she would, but what Kariya didn't know, was that his question to her, is the simplest she could ever answer. And so, she tightened her grip again and began dragging Kariya to her destination, "forgive and forget, that's what I always say. Besides, settling scores doesn't have to deal with ones death, life is too important to waste so please don't give up the fight just yet."

As Kariya was about to speak, felt a small jolt of pain on his chest, causing him to cough, "hang on, just a little while longer," said Rhyme, trying to encourage him. He shook his head and replied, "You've got to let me off here. It's dangerous to be around me,"

"Huh? No offence, but you can hardly hurt a fly right now,"

"It's not me, there's someone else trying to track me down. He won't stop until he gets what he wants. If you bring me to the café, crazy coffee man's going to be in danger too."

"w-what does he want with you?" she asked but received no reply from the reaper. She glanced down at him, seeing that he is completely knocked out, _whoever he is must have did this to him, _she thought now trying to pick up the pace.

Two hours have passed and Sanae returned home, standing still in the middle of the room. They discussed the situation happening in Shibuya, Akiyoshi would be leading a small group to patrol the city while Sanae's duty is to keep an eye on his composer, she deemed that anything can be a threat to him, but the thing that daunted him the most was what happened in the UG while the two were gone, "two reapers missing… four completely erased… but who were they?" he wondered, gathering that information from the higher angel. He stood there and thought for awhile until he heard the bell dingle from the top of the entrance. He snapped out of his thoughts and turned around to greet his first customer for the day, even though the sign clearly said 'closed,' "welcome to Kat Ca"

"M-Mr. H?"

Hearing the small voice, Hanekoma paused, shocked at the sight, "lil Skulls?"

"Please Mr. H," said Rhyme, "you have to help him, he's badly hurt."

Hanekoma ran to the other side of Kariya and looped his arm around his shoulders, "come on, let's take him this way," he said, leading them back to the counter, past the kitchen, and towards the back room where he kept his tools and many broken and fixed gadgets. They set the reaper on the table resting him on his back. Rhyme, exhausted, slumped down on a chair and massaged her shoulder while Hanekoma examined Kariya's wounds, "what happened to him?" he asked.

"I don't know what happened. I found him next to the garbage at my school,"

"And you dragged him all the way here? By yourself?"

"I didn't know who to turn too," Rhyme suddenly felt guilty, she wondered if she came in at a bad time, "I-I didn't want to call or take him to the hospital, the only person I thought who could help him is you, nothing else registered at that time."

After checking out the damage, Hanekoma walked towards the cabinet hanging on the wall. He opened it and pulled out jars of many sizes of medicine and healing herbs, "ahh, I see. Well don't worry about it kid, you took him to the right place, the doctors can heal his body, but not those wings of his," he said smiling at her while holding bandages and gauze, the wings of a reaper is very important too as it's attached to the body itself. Just like a tail of an animal, if the wings weren't fixed, the reaper would have trouble with his or her balance, and would lose a good percent of their powers to fend off noise. Rhyme relaxed, smiling back at the barista and watching him apply medicine to the infected areas, "oh yea! On the way here, before he passed out, he said that someone is trying to track him down." Sanae stopped for a moment then looked back at Rhyme as she continued, "he thinks that if he stays here, you'll be in danger too,"

"Did he say who was following him?"

"No," Rhyme stared at the ground while she moved her other hand to her shoulder. A flashback appeared in his mind, remembering what he saw on the top of the building that day; _could it be those two that did this to lollipop? If so, who are they? _He thought, turning his attention to the bruises and wounds. He noticed that a few of them were open, and so he went back to the cabinet and rummaged through some jars until he found what he was looking for, "Skulls Junior, do you think you could do me a favor and watch the register for me? I don't think you want to see me do this," he said walking back with a needle and string. With wide eyes, she gladly accepted and walked out, closing the door to the back room.

Ssssssssssssssssss

Joshua had been lying on the edge of the 104 building since he left 'home' and staring at the beautiful blue sky. He had grown bored of watching the scenes below and had attempted to take a nice nap. Didn't work.

A small bird landed beside him, chirping and trying to pick some smaller gravel from the building. He turned and watched it, unaware of a small group forming at Hachiko. Beat is the first to arrive, walking around in a circle with his hands in his pockets; he paused to search for his friends, then continued walking around in a circle. Then Neku and Shiki arrived wearing their school uniforms, something that Neku despised a lot, he hated how uncomfortable it was. It's very relevant at the moment that the group is divided when it came to school. Shiki and Neku went to the same private school, while the Bito siblings went to a public school, "What took you guys so long?" said Beat feeling irritated. Shiki could only pout at his reaction, "Beat, you know our school is a long way from Hachiko than yours. Anyways, let's check on Rhyme now,"

"w-well phones should've been here hours ago," the Bito hissed, he didn't like to keep his little sister waiting, for her, every minute for him counts. He ran past them, going farther and farther. He turned to see his friends slowly making progress, "come on! Step it up!"

As soon as he turned, Beat abruptedly halted, causing him to loose his balance and fall backwards, at least it was better than to accidently run into her.

Joshuas eyes shot open and he quickly lifted himself from the ground, now looking at the crowd searching for someone whose melody captured his attention. Targeted.

Beat glanced up at her, feeling a bit speechless as she smiled at him and offered her hand, "I-I'm sorry, it seems like I'm always in someone's way nowadays," she said, Her lovely voice ringing in his ears and causing his heart to skip several beats. She tilted her head, wondering if helping was foreign to him, "Maiya!" she heard someone call and looked up to see her friend. Maiya waved back to the two who came rushing up, "Shiki! Neku!"

Neku ran behind Beat and helped the helpless guy up, "man you're heavy, come on! Pick yourself up!"

"Sorry about Beat, he's kinda unstoppable when he gets like that," Shiki said then began to introduce the two. The recovered Beat blushed slightly, rubbing the back of his head and avoiding Maiya's gaze. Maiya giggled and nodded to him, "it's nice to finally meet you Beat,"

"Yeah… you too," was all the tough guy could say. Shiki and Neku chuckled as well before turning to the long blonde haired girl, "so where are you headed? If you have nothing to do, you can come along with us to WildKat, you'd get to meet the final member of our little group," Shiki said cheerfully.

After climbing down all of those steps, running out and almost getting hit by a man on a bike, Joshua continued on letting her melody guide him through the sea of mindless people. He stopped as soon as they came into view, he stopped at a good distance and made sure to blend in with the crowd, making himself look invisible when he's really not. He watched Nekus rag-tag group (and Maiya) introduced her to the taller, tougher, somewhat challenged teen of the group; at least that's what Joshua thought. They started moving on and Joshua debated on whether or not to follow them. He watched as Maiya left him again, and along with Neku and friends. Conflicted inside, it was as if his mind was telling him to leave them be, his appearance (especially to Maiya) could only cause trouble for him in the long run, but he knew how much he missed her, but did she miss him at all? She had to have been, he noted how down she looked during their last encounter. Joshua took a deep breath, and although faded, he let her music pull him in again.


	8. Together

**(okay, I think I've finally got enough sleep to not screw this chapter up… I think… I dunno.)**

**CHAPTER 7**

The group ran onwards towards the Towa Records, stopping to take a rest in front of the tall yellow music store. Beat had kept them running since Hachiko, with the girl's dedicated on keeping each other together and Neku jogging lightly just to keep the gap short. Joshua, on the other hand, kept his distance when following Neku and finding his thoughts very amusing knowing that the poor dear has taken an interest to Maiya and her relation ship with him. He seeks way too many answers for way too many questions.

This time Joshua made sure not to go overboard with his powers this time, unless he wants to get scolded by Mr. H again, and that's something he'd gladly avoid doing, though, sometimes it's highly unlikely.

He stood by and watched Neku close up the gap, running towards Shiki who was trying to breathe calmly. Beat stood further away from the group, hands on his sides, and occasionally looking back at his band of friends. Joshua shifted his attention to Maiya, who was looking at the music store, hands behind her back, and smiling at the yellow building. Joshua couldn't help but smile himself.

~flashback~

"_Hey Joshua, what are you doing?" said Maiya who knelt in front of the young boy. Joshua blushed and turned away, holding the piece of paper and pencil close to him, "oh… nothing, it's nothing,"_

"_Oh come on! What's that paper? Are you drawing something?"_

"_Well… I guess you can say that," he said looking down at it. Maiya swerved around and stopped next to him. She tilted her head to the side, looking confused at what he just did. Joshua could only giggle at this, "Don't tell me you've never seen music notes before."_

_The little girl blinked and turned away embarrassed, "o-of course I have," she lied. He chuckled a bit, then jumped off the velvet colored couch, then he walked towards the grand piano that is resting farther away from the couches and chairs in the large living room, and right next to the windows in the Yoshiya family's house. He pulled the piano chair out and climbed up, he then lifted the cover of the piano that hid the keyboards, clean and shiny, and ready for use, "remember the poem you read to me yesterday?" Joshua said. Maiya nodded, "the one that my mother would always read to me every night, to help me fall asleep,"_

"_Yeah, well… I kinda thought about it… a lot and I decided to write some sort of a melody for it," he turned the knob on the side of the chair so that the seat can be at a lower level. With his feet being able to touch the pedals, he rested his hands on the keyboard, closed his eyes, and played._

_It started off slow, then it quickly picked up with Joshua reciting the poem, or rather singing it._

_Maiya had never heard Joshua play the piano and now that she had the chance, she found the experience amazing and light. She felt happy, yet sad. Strong, but weak. Joshua had turned her mothers poem into something so alive, like it was a living, breathing person. She wiped a lone tear that was crawling down her cheek, and then made her way towards Joshua. Together, they sang the rest of the poem all the way down to the last note,_

_~Even through cloudy days. You are not alone. ~_

~flashback ended~

He slowly exhaled as the group had moved onwards. There he stood, with no attempt to follow. He honestly didn't know why he was following them in the first place, _she probably has that effect on me, _he thought as he turned around, facing the opposite direction. Suddenly, the static, scratchy noise rang in his ears again. He shut his eyes as he placed a hand on his head, while he leaned on a building to keep him from falling. That didn't work did it?

Getting dizzy, Joshua fell on his knees and tried to shake off the noise he was hearing. His breathing became fast as if he had been running a marathon, "what's going on?" he said to himself. He grunted as he lifted his head, the headache he was trying to endure grew more and more painful. A flash of mixed light caught his attention and before he could turn around to see what's going on, his mind gave in and found himself fading away to the darkness.

Ssssssssssssssssssss

Neku turned swiftly only to see a flock of birds fluttering upwards, their wings beating the air rapidly as they took off. He squinted his eyes to the spot where the birds were resting before; he could see small sparks dancing here and there, all with different colors. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes, then glanced back at the spot again. This time, nothing.

"Beat!"

Hearing Shiki, Neku snapped out of his delusion and turned back to his friends. Beat ran ahead as he called back to them, waving his hand up in the air, "I'll just meet'chu guys at the Miyashita Park underpass. Don't be late! Especially YOU Phones!"

Shiki shook her head while putting her hands on her hips. She pouted and glanced back at the others, "I'll run after him to try and slow him down,"

"You sure you can keep up with that guy?" said Neku

"What, you think I can't?" Shiki then ran after Beat, calling after him, "we should really stick together!" she yelled.

"Beat sure seems like a handful," Maiya giggled to Neku, causing him to chuckle himself, "we'd better catch up."

Sssssssssssssssssss

The group of two made their way towards the underpass entrance, seeing Shiki and Beat waiting patiently for them, "bout' time yo," they heard Beat say as they headed on. Oddly enough, only a few cars have been passing through, occasionally they'd see more, but it seems that this is a rather unfussy day for the underpass.

Neku couldn't pull his eyes away from the graffiti inside, realizing that some of them were different since the last time he came this way. In fact, a new one would pop up almost every single day.

He turned to look at the other graffiti's on the opposite side, and noticed that Maiya seemed to be lagging behind, looking at the graffiti herself. He slowed himself until he was walking beside her, "you know what I think?" she said, "I think the graffiti makes the place a little more lively. Some, not so much I guess,"

"Yeah," Neku said, no knowing what else to say about the art surrounding the place. It was silent between the two of them for awhile until Neku broke it off, clearing his throat he spoke up, "so… about that kid,"

"Kid?"

"Joshua,"

Maiya blinked then turned away from him sadly, "so you do know him," Neku said again.

"We use to be next door neighbors back in France,"

"What? France?"

"mmm hmm. our homes was on the edge of Paris, a little bit away from the busy streets," she giggled at another thought that came to her, "when we were little, Joshua would get us into all kinds of trouble,"

"hmm… go figure," Neku mumbled to himself.

"I didn't mind, as long as he got out of it with safety and honesty,"

"Honest?" Neku scoffed, "I don't think that word fits,"

Maiya chuckled at that knowing what Neku meant. She calmed down and continued, "Well… I think so." Her smile faded as the memory of him leaving crawled in her mind, "… before he left France, he told me that if I ever come to Shibuya, he'd be there at Hachiko. Waiting for me, it was a promise. Funny how it was the other way around,"

"But, you did get your chance to-"

Neku cut himself off as Maiya suddenly stopped, her hair covering the side of her face. Beat and Shiki stopped ahead and looked back at them, puzzled, "hey, what's going on you guys?" said Shiki in a worried tone. Neku just stared at Maiya, confused at first, but beginning to understand, _how long ago did you get here? _He thought, knowing that she probably had been waiting for the sassy kid for some time.

The other two looked at each other, then went to join Maiya and Neku, all four of them oblivious to the eyes that were watching them.

Sssssssssssssssssssssss

He moved around a little before blinking his eyes open. His vision was blurry at first, but quickly recovered, enabling him to check his surroundings. Turns out, he was in a narrow alley, empty with a few pieces of scattered trash. He propped himself up and away from the side of a building he was leaning on too, "what happened?" he told himself as he rubbed his head. After he found his balance, he stepped out of the alley and realized that he is still near the towa records, _someone moved me_. He tried to recall what happened before he passed out but came up short. He rubbed his head again; shaking the last bit of dizziness he had left, _wait a minute! _He thought. He looked around for Neku and the others as he ran out and searched high and low for them, now pushing his previous thoughts aside, Joshua decided on trying his luck elsewhere, _I'll think about it later._

Sssssssssssssssssssss

"Well, well, look what we have here,"

The group turned to see a tall man walking towards them, a sinister look on his face as he approached. He wore a black sleeveless shirt with a black vest, torn at every edge. He also wore black jeans and shiny black shoes, had piercings on the ridges of his right ear and left eye brow, and one big strand of hair looped down, almost covering his right eye, "do we know you?" asked Neku, getting a menacing laugh from the guy,

"well, I don't recall knowing you. But it looks like I'm about too," he held his hand up and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, others like him walked out of the shadows, positioning themselves around them so that they're surrounded. Beat gritted his teeth and curled his hands into a fist as he turned and laid his gaze on them. Neku remained calm and observed the situation, obviously they could mean dangerous business, but what exactly did they do? Maybe they don't need a reason, after all, everyone is familiar on how gangs operate, "look, we've got nothing valuable on us, so picking on us would be a big waste of your time. Now if you'll just let us pass," said Neku.

"I beg to differ. We don't want any valuable goods… let's just say, we're looking for something to keep us busy, to practice our strength on, and to let us be known throughout Shibuya,"

"How disgusting, why don't you go and pick on people your own age," said Shiki

"Like I said, little weaklings like you are good practice for us,"

"Weak?!" yelled Beat, "looks like the other way around ta me. Y'all just standin' around tryin' to intimidate us. You're all bark and no bite,"

"You must want to go first in line,"

"BRING IT!"

"Beat! Shut it! Let me try to reason with them," growled Neku, but it was already too late to stop him. Beat charged at one of the gang members and side rammed him to the wall making a huge cracked up dent. The rest of the gang members were a bit shocked by the Bito's strength, but quickly recovered and charged forward. Neku and the others called after him, but it seems that Beat is defending himself pretty well despite the large number of them. That was until he accidently made himself wide open while trying to break someone's arm off. He was hit on the side, almost causing him to lose his footing. Before he could charge at the other guy, he was hit again from the back. Soon he finds himself being knocked all over the place. Beat got one or two hits, but that wasn't enough to move around the mob. Every step he took, he'd get punched or kicked around, and by the time Beat fell to the ground was the time Neku rushed in to save him, or at least tried too. His punches weren't as hard as Beats, but they did land a good blow for them to pause before trying to hit back. Neku almost made his way near his friend before someone grabbed him from behind and pushed him back, his back hitting the cold hard cement. He felt himself being picked up off the ground by the collar of his shirt and held up high, "don't worry, I promise you'll be up next," The leader grinned.

"Put him down!" yelled Shiki, trying to throw her own punches all over the guy. He just grunted and harshly pushed her aside, "get out of the way."

Maiya ran and knelt down next to Shiki, then glared at the man before running up and trying her best to free Neku, hitting and kicking as best as she could. She succeeded by hitting his shin on accident, causing him to lose his grip on Neku. The leader recovered quickly and focused her attention on Maiya, "now you got me pissed," he said as he lifted his hand and swiftly swung it across her face, knocking her over to the side.

She was expecting to hit the ground any minute, but instead, she landed on something firm. She could feel her shoulders being wrapped gently so that she wouldn't lose her footing. She opened her eyes and found herself still standing with the support from the person behind her. With the leader frozen in spot, looking confused, Maiya tilted her head upward to see who it was and was surprised by the sight of him, "Joshua," she whispered.

**( im pretty sure, most of those who read this know exactly what song they were singing.)**


	9. Missed You

**( aaand, update! I'm not very good at fight scenes; in fact, I was having the most difficult time with that part. Sry for the long wait, enjoy)**

**CHAPTER 8**

His bangs covered his eyes as he held her gently against him, feeling something stirring inside him that he couldn't seem to control. With his hair in the way, he could still see the spot on her cheek clearly; it was red spot, the place that he hit. Joshua lifted his head and glared at the leader, his purple constricted eyes glowing with fury as he started sprinting towards him. Frozen in place, he stared at the ash blonde teen with a familiar feeling that he could not seem to submit too. He hadn't had the time to notice the changes in his movement, which were his hands and other areas of his body were shaking slightly. Within in a split second, the tip of Joshua's shoe had made contact with his lower jaw. He stumbled backwards and fell to the ground, clutching his mouth as a small streak of blood, coming from his tongue that he bit down on during the impact, seeped between two fingers. He stared at Joshua with a stunned expression, but quickly snapped out of it and turned his attention to his band who was also shocked by the scene. Beat, who was laying face down on the ground; groaned and lifted his head to see what was going on, "Pr… Priss kid?" he said weakly.

"Don't just stand there, Get him you worthless twits!" the leader shouted out and the gang scrambled around, reluctantly obeying.

ssssssssssssssssssssss

Shiki ran next to Neku and helped him up on his feet, "are you alright?" she asked with a worried look.

Neku nodded and smiled, "yeah, I'm fine."

He looked up to see the action, thinking that he had to save two of his friends from the menace now or maybe not. Joshua was handling the situation surprisingly well, although he was being ganged up on, he dodged all of their attacks with his speed and light footing. Joshua's fighting tactics were smooth and each blow was precise and swift, successfully delivering painful hits to whoever got in his way.

Two members were coming from the opposite sides of Joshua. He jumped up and spin kicked them in the air. When he landed, he saw another one coming in front of him, aiming for his face. Joshua ducked down, and then punched him hard at the gut, sending him flying backwards into two more men who were behind him.

One, two, three members, all were going down at once, dwindling in their numbers. The leader stood still in place again, watching the scene unfold. He was trying to keep himself from quivering as he didn't like the feeling of fear coursing through him. It was something that he didn't quite understand, why had he become so afraid of him so suddenly?

Before he knew it, the battle had stopped, with the few gang members slowly backing away from the boy, _that kid, _the leader thought again, _that damn kid, just… just what is he? _He glared at the boy, and Joshua glared back. The other members, who were lying on the ground, began to stir, waking up to a slightly agonizing pain as they tried to lift themselves off the ground. The leader backed away and finally getting the idea, he turned and ran the other way. The rest of his gang followed after him, both limping and hopping along.

Taking this chance, Neku, Shiki, and Maiya ran towards Beat and examined the bruises all around his arms. He had one bruise on the left side of his cheek and under his chin, "I-I'm fine," he said, coughing a little afterwards. Neku placed his arm around his neck and tried to help him back on his feet. He then turned to Joshua, who was still standing in place, his back towards them. They all turned their attention to the composer, not exactly knowing what to do, or what to say. The word, 'thanks' doesn't appear to be enough. For Shiki and Beat, because of the memory of the game, they're not sure if they could trust him as much as Neku does.

Neku noticed that he still looked tense. His body was still and his fists tightened, _you still want to fight, I bet,, _thought Neku.

"Joshua…"

Joshua blinked, feeling his rage drop upon hearing her voice. He breathed to make him relax, and then turned to the gang behind him. Maiya was in front of them, Neku and Shiki hanging on to the battered up Bito. He brought his attention to Maiya, who stared at him like she'd seen a ghost. He sighed, and his eyes softened.

Ssssssssssssssssssssssssss

The group made their way across the bridge towards Cat Street, Joshua in the lead. Nobody talked, except Neku and Shiki who kept checking on Beat to make sure he's content, "it isn't far now," said Shiki.

"Look, ya guys don't hav'ta worry about me. It's not like the first time I've been in somethin' like that," Beat grunted. Maiya lagged behind, hands wrapped around the other, walking silently as she followed. She slowly moved her head up to see Joshua, or at least the back of his head. She frowned then turned away from him again with a thought in her mind that bothered her. She glanced over at the other three, keeping that same thought in mind, _maybe… no, can't be. But it could be possible._

"BWAAAAH!"

She heard Beat cry out. Maiya and the whole group were standing in front of a Café, "Wildkat?" she whispered. Beat struggled and tried to pull Shiki and Neku back, "no way, Rhyme is in there, I can't let her see me like this!"

"man up, she's gonna see you like this either with or without bandages," said Neku and as if on cue, Rhyme burst out of the café calling her brothers name with a worried look on her face.

"BWAAAH!" Beat cried out again, and then shoved his two friends away, completely standing on his own, "sup' Rhyme," he said, smiling as if nothing ever happened.

"Beat look at you! What happened?"

"Nothin' it's no big deal,"

Rhyme crossed her arms and looked at him sternly, waiting for an honest answer out of him, "we were confronted by gangs," said Joshua suddenly and plainly, this was the first time he's ever said anything the whole trip to the cafe, "and apparently he got carried away."

Rhyme gasped, walking up closer to take a look at his arms, neck, and face, "lets take you inside, I'm sure Mr. Hanekoma can do something about those,"

"I'm fine! I don't need-" Beat had almost collapsed and would have fallen if it weren't for Neku and Shiki. He used them to balance himself again, sighing as a sign of defeat, "aight, let's just… go," he said feeling exhausted. Rhyme turned and glanced at Joshua. She stared at him for awhile, not out of fear, but with curiosity and wonder. This was actually her first time meeting him in person, and with all the things she heard about him, in her eyes, he didn't seem so bad. She smiled at him sweetly, as her way of saying, 'nice to meet you' then made her way back inside the café, the two of her friends and her brother following behind. Neku peeked back at Joshua before he went inside.

Now the two of them are completely alone, Maiya quietly walked to Joshua's side, both of them turning away from each other once they made a one second eye contact. They stood there, thinking of what to say to one another. Joshua glanced at the window where he could see all the action taking place inside. Neku, Beat, and Shiki all sat at a table while Rhyme went to the back, he was guessing that's where Mr. H was at the moment. Now it seems as if Neku said something that caused Beat to erupt. His body is exhausted, but his mouth isn't.

"So… that's Beats little sister," said Maiya, breaking the silence between them, "she seems, very wise. And responsible,"

"Well, she is the heart of the group, after all," said Joshua now looking at her from the corner of his eye and smiled.

"And what are you? Their last minute hero?"

"Me?" Joshua questioned, and then ran his fingers through his hair, "being a hero sounds like hard work," he said flipping his hair to the side.

Maiya laughed. Joshua chuckled then placed his hands in his pockets as he turned to her, his eyes softened as he spoke, "you were waiting for me… weren't you?" Mayia turned away again, confirming it. He sighed and scratched the back of his head, of course she was waiting, why wouldn't she be? He closed his eyes and sighed again, "… I'm sorry. That I made you wait for me. Something… something happened and I guess I couldn't-"

Before he could say anymore, Maiya had interrupted by wrapping her arms around him, making him almost lose his footing.

"I've missed you so much," he heard her say.

Joshua was suddenly lost at the moment. Being human, he felt his own heart pump more blood into his system faster and faster. Disgusting, but it felt good at the same time. He gazed down at Maiya, and then finally hugged her back, "… Ive missed you, too."


	10. Me?

**( another update. It has been a long while hasn't it ^^" **

**i was working on another twewy fanfic that I had recently come up with, so I had been going back and forth from this one to the other one. Enjoy : ) )**

**CHAPTER 9**

Not a sound came from either of the kids sitting around the table; instead, they were all staring suspiciously at one in particular, except Rhyme.

Now in the spotlight, Joshua closed his eyes and thought for a minute. He was placed in a difficult situation. Now if Maiya weren't around, he would have played around with the group, especially Neku. But with her around, things would go downhill if any of them accidently mentioned the games or who he is for that matter, Maiya wouldn't be able to understand. Then again, maybe she would. A long time ago, she had believed Joshua about seeing players and reapers back in France. But did she? Did she really believe him? Or was she just saying that to make him feel better. Whatever the reason Joshua knew he had the power to find out now, but first he had to deal with Neku and his friends.

He cleared his throat, then smiled, _I'll have to play nice for now, _"so... what's goin' on?" he asked politely and as figured, nobody answered, _tough crowd, _he thought again. He shrugged off the silence and continued on, "come on, what's everyone looking at me for? Do I have something on me?"

Silence, once again.

… _I am about three digits away from imprinting on all of them, _he thought as one of his hands gripped his open cell phone under the table. He tried holding a smile, no matter how impatient he had become. Maiya was already starting to look concerned but he kept his composure and told himself to stay as calm as possible.

Rhyme sighed, feeling the tension in the room; she cleared her throat and began to speak, "Joshua right? Thanks again, for saving my brother, Neku, and the others."

He glanced at the younger sibling, then smirked triumphantly, _now that is more like it, _"you're very welcome, Raimu,"

"How did you do it?" she questioned, having learned what happened from Shiki.

"I took up on martial arts when I was in the U-" he paused for a moment and thought it over, "when I was under the age of twelve,"

"You must be really good then,"

"Practiced everyday," he lied making Sanae roll his eyes.

Maiya giggled, already figuring it out, "is that so?"

"People can change overtime,"

"… I can see that," she whispered, causing Joshua to glance back at her.

Ssssssssssssssssssssss

The table became livelier and the gang stayed for a long while conversing with each other, changing from subject to subject. While Maiya is around, Neku avoided his curiosity, they were questions that were meant for Joshua and the last thing he'd want is to cause confusion, _I guess it's suppose to be a big secret anyways, right? _He assumed since Joshua hadn't said a thing about the UG or the games, and neither did Hanekoma.

He glanced over to the composer and caught him glaring over at the counter. Neku tilted his head to the side then looked to where Joshua was staring at. He looked from the counter, then to Joshua, and back, and then fixed his gaze to him, _what's gotten him on edge? _He thought, realizing that the composer looked tense.

Joshua stared hard at the back room, visible behind the counter and all the way past the kitchen, at least from where he was sitting. He was frustrated by the mix of vibes he's been feeling. He knew that besides him, Hanekoma, and Neku's group, there was someone else in the café and whoever it was, that persons vibe was worrying Joshua. He glanced over to Sanae who was drying some of his mugs on the far end of the counter with his cloth, suspecting that he had something to do with this. Then he sighed, closing his eyes and letting the voices of the group fill him in. he smirked and ran a hand through his hair, "do you want to make me blush that badly, Neku?"

The rest of the gang stopped and turned to the orange spiky haired teen, "… freak, that's what you are," he replied giving him a death glare, worrying about Joshua seems so alien to him now.

"That hurts Neku, and after all I've done for you,"

_This kid, _Neku crossed his arms and decided to change the subject, "so, should we head for the park today?"

"Definitely! That reminds me… There's something I'd like to show all of you there," said Shiki who then turned to Neku, "I'm sure you're going to like it."

Neku blinked and looked at her with curiosity, as did everyone. Sadly, Rhyme wasn't so sure about going anywhere, at least, not when her Brother is hurting, "I'm sorry guys, but I think its best if we go home,"

"WHAAA? Yo Rhyme-"

"Beat, what your body needs is rest; you can't just go running around after a big fight, it'll cause too much stress and fatigue. Plus, it looks like they've got you good, better to be safe than sorry,"

"You've got nothin' to worry about sis, I'm just fine,"

Rhyme sighed showing great concern for her older sibling. Beat on the other hand, knew she was right. As a small wave of pain crawled up his arm, he lightly gripped it, hoping it would soothe the pain a little, "don't worry," said Shiki, "if we can't go today, then how about the weekend? I'll call."

Beat glanced down, feeling disappointed, "not you guys too," he mumbled. Neku stood up from his seat, placing his hands in his pockets and standing idly next to Shiki, agreeing with her and Rhyme, "no big deal, it's not like the park is going anywhere."

Beat stayed quiet, defeated.

Scooting in their chairs, they bid farewell to Sanae and headed out the café. Joshua stood near the entrance, watching the Bitos and Shiki head back to the bridge, along with Neku, and Maiya. Next it was Maiyas turn to say her good byes. She turned to him and smiled, "hey you, we should hang out sometime," she giggled making him chuckle.

"Then how about the two of you join us then, this weekend," Joshua stopped and looked at Neku blankly. He kept a straight face while searching Nekus for any sign of nervousness or fear though it was interrupted by Maiya's voice, "sounds good! I'll definitely be there, thanks for inviting me. And you?" she said looking back at Joshua. He blinked, and for the first time, he didn't know exactly what to say. During his next few days, he was planning on keeping an eye on things in the UG. Even if he couldn't do much about the unknown vibe, he knew that it can't be avoided; he needed to find the source, and keep a good eye on it if he does, _forgive me, but I have to decline the offer._

"I guess it's a yes!" said Maiya before Joshua could decline, "see you there Joshua, and don't be late," she giggled then left the two. He watched her with a surprised expression, then sighed and scratched the back of his head feeling a wave of disappointment wash over him, _looks like I'm going after all, _he thought again. He spared Neku a glance, and then walked back towards the doors of the café. His hands reached out for the handle, until he heard Neku from behind, "see you there?"

He paused staring down at the handle, _me?_ He thought. Not sure of what to think of this, he nodded his head slightly and waited for him to answer back. Seeing Nekus reflection on the glass door, Joshua couldn't help but smirk when he saw his face light up. He opened his mouth to say something snarky, but was cut off, "great, I'll be waiting," said the orange haired teen.

At that moment, Joshua was secluded in his own thoughts again. He knew what Neku felt about him, even if he didn't show it, he saw that behind that mask was a sort of hatred for what he did. Joshua sighed and should have known to erase any trace of memory of him from them, thinking that it would have made matters a lot easier. So why didn't he? During the second week of the game, his goal wasn't only to hijack Shibuya, but to share some of his perspective on the corrupted city and how important it was to shut it down, knowing that by the end of the games, he'd have to reveal himself one way or the other. And when he did, he hoped that the teachings Neku learned from him would be understandable. It, however, had gone the other way around and heading in a completely opposite direction.

Joshua snapped back to reality and turned to find no one. Neku had already left. He grumbled as he stepped inside the café and was greeted by Hanekoma, walking out of the kitchen, "who's in the back?" Joshua said, the bitterness evident in his tone, "take a look for yourself boss," Hanekoma pointed the way as he threw a cloth over his shoulder and Joshua wasted no time and headed his way there. He stopped in front of the door and closed his eyes, "something's not right," he half whispered, feeling faint waves coming through it.

He reached for the handle and opened it, revealing the severely injured reaper lying on the table, a small pillow placed under his head. His eyes widened, then turned to Sanae, "Rhyme found him all scratched up and stuff," he told Joshua in a hushed voice, "he'll be fine now, she got him here just in time. It's best to let him rest for now. Rhyme told me that he said someone was trying to track him down,"

"Interesting," said Joshua as he crossed his arms, glancing back at Kariya, "it's rather strange that I don't see Uzuki around,"

"Hopefully when he wakes up, he'll be able to tell us everything,"

"Right," Joshua let the door gently slide to a close and as he turned to face Sanae, he was caught off guard as something flew its way towards him. Quick to react, he caught it just in time. He unraveled his fist and found the blank pin, resting in the palm of his hand.


End file.
